Sydney, Australia – February 1, 2026 – In front of a roaring home crowd at Qudos Bank Arena, Alexander Volkanovski successfully defended his UFC featherweight title with a second victory over Diego Lopes, claiming a unanimous decision win (49-46, 49-46, 50-45) in the highly anticipated rematch at UFC 325.
Main Event: Volkanovski vs Lopes 2
Lopes (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) gave Volkanovski (28-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) a tough challenge early on. Volkanovski used his clinch effectively, controlled the center of the cage, and gradually wore down Lopes. Championship rounds showed Volkanovski’s mastery as he out-landed Lopes 98-70 in significant strikes, securing his eighth UFC featherweight title defense.
Volkanovski reflected after the fight: "I wanted to take him out, I wanted to grab hold of him and put him down, but he was strong. I didn't want to stand for 25 minutes, but we got the job done. It feels amazing to do it here in Sydney."
Co-Main Event: Saint Denis Overpowers Hooker
France’s Benoît Saint Denis (17-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) defeated Dan Hooker (24-14 MMA, 14-10 UFC) via second-round TKO with ground-and-pound strikes, cementing his status as a rising lightweight contender.
Main Card Highlights
- Mauricio Ruffy def. Rafael Fiziev via TKO (R2, 4:30)
- Tallison Teixeira def. Tai Tuivasa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Quillan Salkilld def. Jamie Mullarkey via submission (R1, 3:02)
Preliminaries & Early Prelims
- Billy Elekana def. Junior Tafa via rear-naked choke (R2, 3:18)
- Cameron Rowston def. Cody Brundage via TKO (R2, 4:08)
- Jacob Malkoun def. Torrez Finney via unanimous decision
- Jonathan Micallef def. Oban Elliott via rear-naked choke (R2, 3:31)
- Kaan Ofli def. Yizha via majority decision (29-28, 28-28, 29-28)
- Dom Mar Fan def. Sangwook Kim via unanimous decision
- Keiichiro Nakamura def. Sebastian Szalay via TKO (R3, 3:48)
- Lawrence Lui def. Sulangrangbo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Bonuses & Awards
- Fight of the Night: Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes – $100,000 each
- Performance of the Night: Mauricio Ruffy and Quillan Salkilld – $100,000 each
Volkanovski now sets his sights on the division’s undefeated contenders, including Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy, continuing to solidify his claim as one of the UFC’s all-time greats in the featherweight division.
